After Jacob Volkmann slams WSOF, exec strikes back

Jacob Volkmann (17-6) took it upon himself to slam his former employers at WSOF, citing some questionable business practices. As you might expect, WSOF Executive Vice-President Ali Abdelaziz didn’t exactly take it too kindly.

“I honestly can’t believe this guy,” Abdelaziz told MMAjunkie. “We went out of our way to take care of Jacob Volkmann, and now he’s going to talk trash about us? Unbelievable.”

Volkmann was released from the UFC following a 2013 loss to Bobby Green. He signed on with WSOF and earned a victory over Lyle Beerbohm in a slow-paced promotional debut at WSOF 3 in June 2013. He returned in October of that year and was handed a decision loss by Luiz Firmino.

After sitting idle for six months, he was granted permission from WSOF officials to fight on the regional stage and has since picked up a TKO win over Danny White at a show in North Dakota and, most recently, suffered a submission loss to T.J. O’Brien at a May event in Iowa.

Today, he took Twitter to complain about his treatment by WSOF officials.

MMAjunkie spoke with Volkmann’s manager, Monte Cox, who indicated WSOF officials had been easy to work with when his fighter requested the two regional fights. However, he said the promotion had not provided an official release letter, which is typical for such situations, and instead had generally received emails or verbal confirmation from Abdelaziz and his team when requesting bouts outside the promotion.

Cox said Volkmann was currently entertaining offers from a handful of promotions, including Bellator MMA, but that those organizations were hesitant to tender a contract without a formal letter confirming his client’s release from WSOF.

Abdelaziz said the company would be happy to provide such a form and wishes Volkmann would have simply asked for what he needed rather than take to Twitter to start a war of words the WSOF exec deemed unnecessary.

“This entire situation is ridiculous,” Abdelaziz said. “We went out of out way to give Jacob Volkmann money without even fighting. And now he’s attacking us on Twitter? If he needs a release letter, call me and ask for a release letter. I let him take those other two fights, no problem, and after he lost to T.J. O’Brien, I told him we didn’t need him anymore. He knew I was releasing him. It drives me crazy to think about how we went out of our way to help him, and now he wants to attack us and tarnish our reputation.

“Jacob Volkmann started all of this propaganda because he wants to go to Bellator. He can go to Bellator.”

Despite the comments from both Cox and Abdelaziz, a Bellator spokesperson said the company “has no current interest” in bringing Volkmann to the promotion. The Bellator official did allow for the possibility that ex-CEO Bjorn Rebney may have floated the potential for a contract but was adamant that no current offer was forthcoming.

For more on WSOF’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Ali Abdelaziz)

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Story updated on 7/12/14 at 8:55 p.m. ET with comments from a Bellator official.